Kitchen-cabinet.



M. C. POWELL.

KITCHEN CABINET.

APPLICATION FILED mmao. I914.

Patented May 8, 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

M. C. POWELL.

KITCHEN CABINET.

LQQfiGEQ APPL IIIII 0M IIIIIII 5 30mm. Patents? M113 8, 1917.

/ I W 1% W ml 1 WWW W "1 w W 1 W 1'!" r 11 f m My "In!" a H. II I l I 7 il 6 MILTON C. POWELL, F BALSTON, NEBRASKA.

KITCHEN-CABINET.

Application filed January 30, 1914.

To all whom it 112m concern:

Be it known that I, MILTON C. PownLL, a citizen of the United States, residing at llalston, county of Douglas, and State of Nebraska, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Kitchen-Cabinets, of which the following is a specification.-

This invention relates to kitchen cabinets.

lily object is to provide a stationary kitchen cabinet which can be built into the wall of an apartment, flat or other room and which may be finished to correspond with the finish or wood-trim of the room.

in respect to its use as above indicai ed, my invention conten'iplates the provision of a kitchen cabinet whose frame, drawers, conipartmcnts and shelves will be. arranged and constructed in an improved manner.

Another object of the invent-ion is the provision in a kitchen cabinet, whether the latter be portable or built-in and regardless of its complete design, of a drop front table hinged to and combined with the "itchen' cabinet in a novel manner, whereby the rear or bottom edge of the drop table engages a shelf or corresponding stop on the-kitchen cabinet and assists in the support of the drop table, relieving the hinges and the-usual supports of much strain, thus affording greater rigidity and strength with great compactness of arrangement.

I wish it understood that the construction for the support of the rear edge of the drop table may be carried out in various ways without departing from the spirit of the invention and, further, that while this feature of the invention is well adapted for use on a built-in kitchen cabinet, to afford co1npact ness and strength, its use is not thus restricted andthat this inventive feature may be used on any kitchen cabinet.

An embodiment of the different features of the invention is set forth fully hereinafter and the novelty of the invention is embodied in the append-ed claim.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a front perspective View of the cabinet, when closed, when of the form adapting it to be built into a wall;

Fig.2, a similar view showing the drop table down, and the doors open;

Fig. 3, a detail section through the lower shelf, the front, and the drop table, the latter being in full lines in lowered position and in dotted lines in raised position;

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 8, 191%.

Serial No. 815,494.

Fig. at, a view like Fig. 3 of a modified construction; and

Fig. 5, a view showing the cabinet set into the wall flush with the face thereof, and provided with an attached frame or trim matching the woodwork of the room.

The casing or frame 1 is, when the cabinet is to be built into the wall of a room as in Fig. 5, provided with perpendicular flat sides 2 and flat top and bottom 3 and l (Fig. 1). This enables the cabinet, after separate manufacture in the self-contained form of Fig. 1, to be placed in a hole in the wall with the front of the cabinet preferably substantially flush with the wall and permitting wood or material or coloring of the cabinet to be predetermined so that it will match the wood-work or general trim of the room where it is afterward installed. To the front edges of the sides 2 and top 3 will be nailed or secured a frame or trim 1 to match the wood-work around the doors and win (lows of the room.

In its lower part, the cabinet has a plurality of drawers 5 occupying one part thereof and a compartment 6 closed by a door 7 occupying the other part thereof. The door '4' may be paneled or provided with glass.

The upper part of the cabinet contains a plurality of compartments 8 which are preferably formed by horizontal shelves 9 and there may be a vertical compartment 10 for containing a flour holder and sifter such as shown at 11. Other fittings may be provided for the interior of the cabinet and the interior arrangement may be varied. The upper part of the cabinet is provided with hinged doors 1?. which may be paneled or provided with fronts. The front of the cabinet intermediate the drawers 5 and door 7 on the one hand, and the doors 12, on the other hand, is occupied by a drop table 13 whose outer face may be paneled or provided with a glass front and which has suitable pulls 14, There may be provided suitable catches to hold the table closed.

Referring to Fig. 1, it will be seen that the general appearance of the front of the cabinet, when closed, is flat and paneled. By employing a drop table instead of the usual sliding table, it is unnecessary to occupy any greater depth of cabinet than necessary for containing the articles usually held by a kitchen cabinet, and there are no normally projecting parts to occupy space in front of the cabinet when the latter is closed. In mauy situations, particularly in apartment and flats, space is of importance and the arrangement of the cabinet previously described has this desideratum in view.

The hinges 15 of the drop table 13 may be spring hinges adapted to assist in keeping the drop table closed, even if unlatched, or, springs or weights of any arrangement may be employed for that purpose. To support the outer part of the drop table when it is lowered, I may employ any of the usual devices such as chains or articulated levers, the latter being the construction shown.

In order to provide a drop table which is supported in a very rigid manner when lowered, without, at the same time having to provide a sliding table which extends back into the cabinet as has been heretofore proposed, I provide a rear part of the table in the form of an extension 16, Fig. 3, or 16 Fig. 4, which is adapted to enter be neath and engage a suitable stop in the cabinet, as for instance, the bottom of the lower shelf 9", when the drop table is in lowered position. This rearward extension is adapted to play in the space 17 between the front strip 18 and the shelf 9 when the drop table 13 is raised or lowered. The hinge 15 is arranged with one of its leaves 15 secured to the false lower or inner edge 13 of the drop table 13 and with its other leaf 15 secured to the upper edge of the strip 18. As little strain comes on the hinges, due to the engagement of the rear extension 16 with the shelf 9 and the usual supporting means for the drop table, great rigidity is obtained with the occupancy of but small space and without strain being great on the hinges. The extension may be rabbeted as at 16*, Fig. 3, or straight as at 16 Fig. 4:- Rabbeting as in Fig. 3 causes the upper surface of the drop table to lie flush with the top of the shelf 9, thus facilitating sliding articles back and forth from the table to the said shelf.

On the bottom of the stop or shelf 9 or on the top of the extension 16, or 16, I preferably provide a felt, rubber, or rubber fabric strip 19 which forms a tight joint and prevents dust, dirt, water or moisture from working off of the table top underneath the shelf 9 and into the lower part of the cabinet.

I am aware that the manner of hinging the drop table and of engaging the rear or lower edge thereof with a stop or shelf can be carried out in ways or by means other than those disclosed in Figs. 3 and 4:, and I do not, therefore, limit myself to either or both of the special constructions except where so stated in my claim.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

In a kitchen cabinet having a wall or member extending across its front, the 00111- bination with an interior horizontal shelf whose front edge is separated from the front of the cabinet by an open space, of a drop table having a short, continuous lower or inner free extension cut away on its inner face to a depth equal to the thickness of the front of the cabinet, so as'to form a recess to receive the top edge of the said front when the drop table is in closed position, the extension being adapted to play in the said open space when the table is closed or opened and to underlie and engage with the under face of the outer or forward edge of said shelf when the table is in lowered position, and hinges permanently connecting the drop table to the upper part of the aforesaid wall or member, the pivots of said hinges being disposed substantially in line with the outer face of said wall or member, said drop table being adapted to fold or close substantially flush with the front of the cabinet.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

MILTON C. POVELL.

Witnesses:

FLORENCE M. COX, ELLERY H. WESTERFIELD.

Copies of this patent may be obtained. for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. Q. 

